ALTERED ALLIANCES
by Alpha Virus
Summary: Two unlucky crew members aboard the Covenant supercarrier, Long Night Of Solace, Yuto Stefumee, an Elite, and Zimzam, a Grunt, get frozen in cryostasis during the events of the fall of reach. They reawaken in 2558, prior to the events of halo 5. The story follows Zimzam and Yuto as they struggle to adapt to their new, altered, and unfamiliar galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**The calm before the storm**

A low hum is all that can be heard. Its low and very bass like rumble after spending years aboard the covenant supercarrier, long night of solace, you could almost forget it was even there.

For Zimzam, he found himself enjoying the white noise. Zimzam always had trouble falling asleep in pure silence. The deep hum provided a soothing atmosphere for him to relax aboard the massive planet buster he was stuck on.

Unggoy are an easily frightened race, which meant that Unggoy, like Zimzam, struggle to find a sense of security and always live a life of fear.

in an ironic way, living aboard the large ship has provided Zimzam with the greatest sense of security he'd ever had in his life. the impenetrable armor, advanced shields, powerful weapon defenses, and competent leadership, let fearful Unggoy like Zimzam rest easy knowing their lives are in good hands.

The Long Night of Solace would not fall.

Zimzam is a minor Grunt in the covenant empire. "The lowest of the low." Zimzam would frequently think to himself, along with other pessimistic thoughts like "I could get stepped on by a hunter and I doubt anyone would notice." it was a dark thought that often kept Zimzam up at night, but it was a sad truth that all Unggoy would have to accept.

Zimzam's somber thoughts were abruptly halted by a loud THUMP sound coming from outside. This was our Sangheili lance (or squad) leader indicating that he was now (impatiently) waiting for us to rendezvous with him outside. Groggily, Zimzam, along with the rest of his Unggoy comrades, arose from their slumber and slowly shuffled out of their quarters in single file.

Their sleeping quarters aren't much to talk about. The room itself is a narrow six foot wide and six foot tall, at its highest point, triangular prism that stretched out roughly sixteen feet. Each Unggoy is given a tiny four foot long section for sleeping that is divided up on both sides of the prism shaped room by thin metal walls. There is little privacy and little space to stretch out. The entire room is filled with a methane gas which would be toxic to the rest of the crew aboard the Long Night Of Solace. The exit to the sleeping quarters contains a smaller foyer like room that could fit about two Unggoy at a time. There, the methane is vented out and replaced with standard ship atmosphere.

Zimzam was at the back of the line, meaning that he would have to be the last one out of the room. Zimzam gave a low energy sigh as he strapped on his breathing apparatus. Man, I always hate being the last one out of the room. Zimzam thought to himself. Our lance leader as well as every other elite in the covenant, will lash out at whoever is last to exit the quarters. "looks like that abuse will be falling upon me today." Zimzam thought to himself.

Elites must be a super strict and uptight species by instinct. Even minor elites, such as our Lance leader are extraordinarily dutiful individuals, always waking up and completing tasks with clockwork proficiency equal to that of AIs. Zimzam honestly couldn't help but admire this trait in Elites, although it was probably only natural for the grunts of any military to look up to their leaders.

" Jutfip! wake up you lazy scrub grub!" Yelled a voice, coming from two Unggoys in front of him. "Uunngh, I'm still tired. Why do we have to get up so early every day?" Replied a clearly very tired voice coming from four sleeping sections down from where Zimzam stood. "If you don't get up, Yuto's going to squish you for sure." Warned the agitated Unggoy which Zimzam now identified as Flipyip, the only Unggoy major in the lance. "hmmfffine I'll get up. but only because I don't feel like dying on an empty stomach."

It was a sad yet true fact that Unggoy life is not valuable to the rest of the covenant. If an Unggoy were to disobey his superior, it would not be uncommon for the superior to execute the Unggoy for nothing more than minor disobedience. However, worrying about dying in this life was of little concern to any of us. Just as long as we all end up in the great journey in the end. slowly, Jutfip shuffled into place behind Zimzam. At least this meant that he wouldn't have to be the last one to leave the quarters this time, much to his pleasure. Slowly, one by one, each Unggoy was filed out of the room until it was Zimzam and one other Unggoy's turn. He felt all of the methane surrounding him quickly recede and be replaced with a warmer air containing oxygen nitrogen and just a hint of argon. The second door then swooshed open and he and the Unggoy in front of him exited the foyer. They were then greeted by a large reptile like alien towering above all of them.

Yuto let out a low growl as he watched Jutfip exit last from the entrance, clearly taking his time in doing so.

The door to their sleeping quarters was only a little over five feet tall. Even some of the taller Unggoy would have to duck a little in order to fit through. This provided us with an escape from higher ups because: one, they couldn't fit in the door, and two, they'd probably die from breathing the atmosphere after a few seconds.

Yuto Stefumee watched Jutfip unenthusiastically fall into line with all of the other Unggoy, but not before receiving a firm kick to the ankles from Yuto.

"A strong warrior should maintain peak performance on and off the battlefield." Yuto spoke in his usual projecting voice. "Your lack of dedication to the great journey shows when you lack the necessary devotion to tasks as simple as rising at the start of each day."

Zimzam was very used to routines at this point in his service to the covenant. Yuto would give this lecture to the last Grunt out every single day. For Zimzam, this daily lecture was just as much of a white noise as the hum of the ships engine.

 **YUTO POV**

After admonishing one of his subordinates, Yuto Stefumee glanced over every one of his Grunts under his command, watching all of them lazily shift under their weight. he hated accepting that those under his command wouldn't be taking in half of whatever he says.

With a huff and a slight gesture to the Grunt major at the front, the group moved out to their next destination.

Aboard the Long Night Of Solace, there was always work to be done, even despite that, within it, housed literally millions of crew members. For today, his lance was assigned to overseeing all operations within Hanger 17. This job is considered a privileged responsibility for a minor Elite such as himself. but due to the long span of time Yuto had spent aboard Long Night of Solace, he had earned the higher up's trust in his ability to maintain specific jobs, especially hanger monitoring.

Yuto Stefumee is a minor Elite. its not a very commendable rank but he wore it with pride;

semi-aversive pride...

Yuto had spent most of his time in service on board the ship rather than being on the battlefield. and because sangheili rank is majorly dictated by battle experience, he has yet to receive a most anticipated promotion.

As is customary with all minor Elites, Yuto's armor is light blue shade. His helmet is the standard cylindrical shape with fin jutting out at the sides and rear. There were no ornaments or unique features to his helmet beside a few meaningless symbols made from Sangheili body paint. Yuto himself is of impressive stature, standing upright at around 8'3'', much taller than most other Elites and also notably stronger as well.

Yuto knew that his commanded troops were nothing significant. He didn't command any other Elites, nor did he command Hunters or even Jackals. Nonetheless, he was proud of his small Grunt army and saw the potential each one of them possessed.

Before going to Hanger 17, Yuto brought his lance into the designated grunt mess hall. Within it was several "food nipples" that the grunts seem to enjoy. As Yuto watched them all disband to feed, he couldn't help but shudder at the very smell of it. The odor was similar to that have lekgolo mucus stained with a tinge of sulfur.

While trying to divert his attention away from it he caught sight of one of his comrades Alar Teferee, an Elite major, walking up to him.

"greetings Teferee." Yuto said, hailing him. "I have not seen you in some time." Alar Spoke. Yuto paused for a moment, sizing up his ally. he wanted to try and compare stature to see exactly what a major has over him, but it was easily suggestive that Yuto was trying to provoke the more humble Elite major.

Yuto had trained alongside Alar in their childhood. Even though Yuto always maintained strength greater than Alar, Alar had always been a better and swifter fighter than Yuto was which led to Yuto getting frequently scolded by his instructor for being too clumsy and too brutish.

Alar sensed Yuto's growing tension by how he was so obviously staring at him with a hint of jealousy glistening in his eyes like a burning flame. Wishing not to start anything with his childhood friend Alar broke the silence. "I've gotten word of the human stronghold were supposed to be on route to."

This caught Yuto's attention. Because of the enormous crew and the fact that Long Night Of Solace almost constantly saw action in the war meant that the crew was usually kept at a very tight need to know basis. Getting to hear anything having to do with the next engagements always excited Yuto.

"What have you heard?" Yuto asked curiously, trying to have a greater presence with a slightly lower and more gruff sounding tone. Alar relaxed his tense shoulders before responding, "This stronghold is supposed to be of great significance to the course of the war apparently." Alar spoke while glancing out the large window in the hallway, watching light zip by like white strands of hair. "This one is called Reach. The higher ups speculate it may be one of the most heavily defended strongholds the covenant has ever engaged."Alar said.

Yuto thought he detected a hint of worry in Alar's tone, a petty opportunity for him to exploit. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to put himself in a higher opinion, Yuto puffed up his chest and let out a defiant huff. "the human scum is on the verge of inevitable collapse." He taunted. "This planet will fall just like the others. the Long Night of Solace shall see to its demise."

Alar's upper mandibles stretched out, indicating a smile, "That's a lot of talk coming from somebody who leads Grunts." Alar commented with a sarcastic tone. Yuto's chest somehow puffed out even more "at least I lead my own pack. "Yuto retorted "you're still stuck being led by other Sangheili."

 **Zimzam's POV**

Zimzam looked over at the Sangheili's sorry excuse for socializing. While a Grunt could never expect the "privilege" of small talk with an Elite, it really wouldn't be all that worthwhile from what Zimzam had observed.

Both Sangheili conversed about strictly tactically related stuff and each one seemed to be more focused on looking as big and muscular as possible than actually chatting.

Zimzam diverted his attention back to his Grunty friends. Lipzip was telling the story about how he saw a vision of the great journey right when he had a near death experience with a plasma grenade; he'd heard this story many times.

"Before I knew it, the grenade was already fizzling a hot blue and was stuck to my visor and If I had thrown my helmet off maybe a half of a second later I would've been done for" Lipzip chattered on, mostly to other Unggoy that were from another group, and hadn't already heard this story a thousand times. "And it was at that moment that I must've blacked out." Lipzip paused, standing still like a statue while his eyes darted around the room.

He was waiting for his so called "essential cue".

Zimzam took on the mantle of wingman for this session by chiming in with the essential question Lipzip would always need to hear before he could continue, even though it was entirely unnecessary anyway. "What happened THEN?" Zimzam replied with an incredibly forced sense of curiosity.

Lipzip instantly answered the question, "That's when I saw it!"

Lipzip's audience was totally eating it up right now. Some had even stopped feeding from the food nipple, allowing its precious nutrients to drip, just to give Lipzip their full attention.

Zimzam smiled under his breathing apparatus and gave essential question number two, "What did you see?" Chirped Zimzam. "I saw the path, an infinitely long and wide path, and it was made of that fancy, shiny, forerunnery metal. It must've been the path of the Great Journey, it had to be!" Before Lipzip could continue gloating, he was interrupted by Yuto Stefumee, indicating it was time to leave. all the Unggoy in his Lance formed a single file line behind him.

the journey in between destinations was never an absolute slog for Zimzam. it seemed like when all those mighty covenant architects came together to create the designs for all of the covenant ships in the navy, it seemed as if they all decided to try their absolute best to make the best possible experience for traversing the miles and miles of corridors within the supercarrier.

Whenever you walked through one of the thousands of tunnels inside the ship, usually every quarter mile or so, you would see either a long spanning window showing the expansive universe, usually seen through the odd distorted view of slipspace, or there would be an opening that allowed you to see immense high ceiling promenade like openings ranging in size from just big enough to fit a wraith through, to massive enough to fit most starships through.

Zimzam started to feel a slight pang of regret. Before he diverted his attention away from the two Sangheili he thought he overheard them exchange important intel about where Long Night of Solace's next destination was. In all honesty, Zimzam was actually really curious about what is going in this mini city and would've liked to know where it was headed to next. Even though chances were that his group would likely never even leave the ship regardless; it was still nice to know however.

Slowly cutting to the front of the line, Zimzam prepared himself mentally to shoot the question.

Talking to your Sangheili superiors without being directly spoken to is extremely dangerous, especially for Unggoy. Zimzam, however, was smart. He knew the particular technique one would need to use to approach a Sangheili without offending them personally. The key was to make yourself dumber around them. Sangheili have massive egos, egos that feed off of the flaws of others very well. this would apply _especially_ With Yuto Stefumee.

With Zimzam's squeakiest voice, he proposed the question. "Where we going?" Asked Zimzam. Yuto sighed, obviously not very interested, and then replied, "Hanger 14."

That wasn't the answer he wanted.

"No, where's big ship going?" Squeaked Zimzam. The large Sangheili, clearly not interested in giving the lowly Grunt any information of that caliber, gave no answer.

After fifteen seconds of silence, Zimzam submitted to Yuto and fell back in line. He didn't expect to get a direct answer anyway.

Suddenly, Yuto spoke up, much to Zimzam's surprise, "It's a particular well defended human stronghold... That's all you need to know." Yuto informed Zimzam without ever looking directly at him, and used the same low and gruff voice he'd always use when trying to sound extra menacing. however, this time he noticed that Yuto walked a little prouder after having transferred information that Zimzam had not known and also desired to know as well.

Zimzam always found that he was good at reading people. Yuto, from what he could infer, liked to let others, as well as himself, think that his pride and ego was humble. Although deep down he could tell that he always wanted more recognition.

In his current state, he seemed willing to accept recognition even from a lowly Grunt.

Despite the views traversing the supercarrier proves burdensome. Zimzam calculated that the total distance required to go from the designated sleeping quarters, to hanger 14 was somewhere around 3 miles.

Luckily for them, there's always a gondola at the two mile mark that carried them that final stretch.

Unbeknownst to the tiny Lance as well as most of the crew aboard the ship, they were not going to arrive at the planet and immediately commence glassing as would be standard protocol.

No.

The Long Night of Solace was to maintain a covert operation. unusual for ships transporting whole armies at the supercarrier was accustomed to arriving on any human planet, engaging whatever defenses they had, and then proceeding to glass the planet along with all of its inhabitants. But reach was not a normal human outpost, and those in charge of the invasion were fully aware of that. Reach was not only going to be the greatest challenge Long Night of Solace had ever faced but it would also be its last...

 **...And so ends the calm...**

 **This concludes the first chapter of the first story I have ever made on this website! This chapter was just supposed to be some exposition in their current environment, which may or may not change... action should commence in the next chapter however. also, I feel like I should give a show of respect to all of the other great authors on this website that make this look so easy. By no means is that an insult, I mean it as the highest of complements. Anyways, leave a comment telling me what you think. If you like it, let me know. If you specifically like certain parts of it, tell me what they are. If you didn't like it, or at least didn't like certain parts of it, which I'm sure there are plenty, then tell me what I should do or improve. Seriously though, don't be afraid to be goddamn brutal with me. I'm willing to face some harsh truth just as long as it's constructive.**

 **also, the first time i posted this, i encountered a wee bit of an error where this chapter accidentally only posted the url for the document i originally made it on. thats all been fixed, and the process of transferring the chapter to this website gave me the opportunity to revise some stuff, which is something i hope i can do consistently from here onwards. also, for the people that somehow already saw this before i did and actually went out of their way to message me and tell me the problem, i give a serious thank you to them. i had already started a writers block for chapter two and would've completely missed it had they not pointed it out. i'm feeling pretty motivated right now (just got halo wars 2) so the second chapter shouldn't be too far away!**


	2. Chapter 2

ALTERED ALLIANCES

ch.2

A large door at the end of the hall way opened up to reveal the large hanger. the hangers on board the supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, varied in size. some were around the size of a normal hanger, with enough space to fit one or two Spirit dropships. Hanger 14 however, was not normal hanger sized. Hanger 14 was one of the supercarrier exclusive hangers that was capable of housing entire starships. Just within Hanger 14 alone housed over fifty seraph fighters, a dozen spirit dropships, and the covenant corvette, Ardent Prayer. Ardent Prayer normally was capable of slipspace travel on its own but would require refueling over long distances, and we have been in slipspace for a long span of time.

Zimzam always tried to pause in order to take in the scope of larger than life things, hanger 14 being one of them. Yuto Stefumee, his Lance leader, rarely ever enjoyed such things and, preferred to get right to work, as is the case with most Sangheili.

There is pleasure in working hanger duty for an Unggoy such as himself. Yuto has been trusted with independently monitoring a single hanger with the help of his Lance consisting of no more than ten Unggoy. This gave Zimzam, as well as the rest of his Grunty friends not only freedom but also authority. It always tickled him to think that, if he wanted to, he could not permit an entire dropship of high ranking Sangheili from reentering the hanger and they couldn't do anything about it, granted he would never try it, knowing that he would get in big trouble when Yuto finds out.

Hanger 14's unique design is made up of three sublevels that form a sort of U shape around the large gaping opening. Zimzam's assignment was to monitor the second level.

the first time he had worked as a hanger monitor, it was rather nerve-racking. first, Zimzam was always afraid of heights. he was never uncomfortable looking out the windows of the ship and gazing down at a planets surface, but it was because the actual hanger itself was hundreds of feet tall and he was afraid of falling off. For whatever the reason, the people who built this thing never felt inclined to build railings. Second, he was scared of the Hunters. Every Hanger, even the small ones, had a pair of Hunters patrolling them. They weren't there to monitor and oversee entering and exiting vehicles.

They were there to transform any unwanted guests into a plasma singed puddle.

Originally, Zimzam wouldn't come close to the edge. but little by little, he grew more accustomed to being near a plummet to his death. he had motivation to do so. The view from the opening is amazing and has always been the favorite place for him to watch all the activity that takes place amongst the Long Night of Solace's fleet.

Zimzam could find beauty with many things, even the violence of watching a planet getting glassed.

The days shift up until then was about as ordinary as it could get. Oddly enough, ships don't really exit the hanger when experiencing slip space travel. Zimzam really wasn't quite sure why the job was even assigned to begin with.

Him as well as the other Unggoy on the second sublevel of the hanger were confronted by two Sangheili who were, previously, towing tanks full of Lekgolo worms into the elevators. naturally, that task fell upon us as soon as they caught notice of a few Grunts doing something other than strenuous physical labor.

That all changed during the last stretch of the shift. Zimzam could feel the familiar feeling. the whole ship experienced a subtle lurch forward. Zimzam was caught off-guard while pushing a heavy tank of lekgolo worms and nearly nearly lost his footing and stumbled into the tank. it was the sensation of the Long Night of Solace exiting slipspace.

From where he was on the second deck, he couldn't see what the outside looked like through the hanger exit. With great haste, Zimzam hauled the last Lekgolo tank onto the elevator and then pressed a button, closing it. He then hurried over to the edge not being as careful as he should be so close to the edge.

The view was... nice, but it wasn't what Zimzam was expecting. All he could see was just stars, one of which being slightly larger than the rest.

Jutfip waddled up behind him, wiping a little bit of Lekgolo slime off of his hands. "I thought you said we was glassing a human planet?" Jutfip questioned Zimzam. "So where's the planet?" Zimzam simply shrugged his shoulders in response. Truth be told, Zimzam wasn't sure either. "Yuto did say that it was a well defended planet. Maybe we're supposed to be stealthy or something." Zimzam suggested. "Pfft, get real Zimzam! Long Night of Solace!

Stealth! You've got quite the Grunty sense of humor!" Jutfip joked.

Suddenly without warning , the hanger sprung to life. Hundreds upon hundreds of covenant troops swarmed into the hanger. Kig-yar of all shapes and sizes and Sangheili of every color. "I guess that this really is a big deal..." Jutfip says while gawking at the army assembling in front of them. Zimzam just nodded his head in agreement.

YUTO'S POV

Yuto watched streams of Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, fellow Elites, and even Engineers file into the dropships and Ardent Prayer. It was amazing to see it all happen so fast. but it was even more amazing to know that this whole process happened without him ever knowing anything about it. How could the assembly of an entire army commence without him ever even knowing about it. He looked around at the troops marching by him.

He saw minor Elites and Grunts, no different from him. And yet there was a difference.

They knew about the invasion.

It was examples of things like this that agitated Yuto. The leadership of the Long Night of Solace never kept the whole ship informed of upcoming events including a full scale invasion.

Yuto came over and and lightly gripped the arm of a smaller minor Sangheili. "how long have you been aware that you were a part of the invasion?" Yuto questioned, similar to how a superior would talk to his underlings. The other Sangheili was taken by surprise by his sudden intrusion, but responded in kind. "Our Legion was informed this morning to board the Ardent Prayer once we exited slipspace."

Yuto nodded and stepped away from the traffic. He couldn't believe it. An entire invasion of a human stronghold and they were briefed about it during breakfast.

He disliked the lack of communications on board this floating city and would frequently express the flaws he observed to his Lance, however his words often fell on deaf ears.

He did notice that at least one of his Unggoy would always seem to be listening to his points which gave him a subtle encouragement to continue expressing himself.

The traffic commencing all around him slowly began to dissipate.

Yuto watched the whole process with his arms crossed; occasionally adjusting his left shoulder plate which would become loose from time to time.

Despite his grievances towards the sudden, unexpected entrance, he couldn't help enjoying himself. All of these people were under HIS supervision. no one else. it was power like this that he wanted, no, craved to have on a normal basis. But even if it were only for this moment he enjoyed it nonetheless.

Before Yuto could continue to wallow in his temporary power, a wave of commanding authority washed over him like a tidal wave. REAL authority. Authority that is forged through the blood of war.

Yuto turned around just in time to see the source of what had just sent a shiver down his spine. Several Sangheili, Zealot class, were all marching in the same direction.

His direction.

A part of Yuto wanted to move but he couldn't. His legs felt stiff and his whole body was cold and rigid just by being in the presence of this renown Zealot strike team.

They were getting closer and closer and Yuto's hearts began to accelerate. "I wonder what they'll say", "I wonder what they think of me." these were all thoughts crossing through his mind.

The strike team was now less than thirty feet from Yuto and was now acknowledging his stagnate presence. "Should i introduce myself? are there consequences for talking to someone of such status? I've never seen field marshall armor up close before."

"i wonder if he'll let me touch it."

They were now less than fifteen feet away and closing, but Yuto still hadn't budged. Some of the other Zealots began to look at Yuto, not so much annoyance, but rather with a sense of caution; however Yuto did not notice.

They were viewing Yuto's refusal to yield as a possible threat.

The field marshall, who had his head down in a meditative state, must have sensed Yuto in his path and finally looked up.

Never had Yuto Stefumee witnessed a colder, more commanding stare in his entire life. It was both a combination of burning anger and absolute willpower.

instantly after witnessing eye contact, Yuto practically threw himself out of the way. It didn't matter what he thought of the Leadership on this vessel, Yuto was not going to get in his way.

The group of Zealots continued on, unobstructed, the field marshall not so much as acknowledging he existed a second time. One of the Zealots on the Field Marshall's right side, the side closest to Yuto, glanced at him before letting out an audible "Hmph," clearly indicating disapproval of Yuto's entire existence.

Yuto's shouldiers slouched as he watched the Strike-team board a phantom dropship. If they got a Field Marshall to lead this engagement, then this invasion really must be a big deal.

He wished he was a part of a group like that. Respected by all, never failing a mission, being called to arms only when no one else can. It must be so nice...

...Being important.

ZIMZAM'S POV

Zimzam watched the whole thing unfold. It was weird seeing his leader and role-model being a nervous wreck around that well lit maroon armored Sangheili.

Zimzam was suddenly jerked forwards by a violent bump to the triangular methane tank on his back, knocking the majority of his weight towards his right side, almost causing him to lose his balance. Unggoy and Kig-yar never got along very much and it didn't help that they frequently outranked Unggoy more often than not. This particular Kig-yar especially did not like Unggoy. The Kig-Yar let out an obnoxious cackle along with his fellow Kig-Yar slapping his shoulder armor and joining in with their equally obnoxious cackles, creating a stupendously obnoxious chorus.

Zimzam adjusted his footing and glared at the assaulting Kig-Yar, clenching his fists. Zimzam was used to taking abuse from higher ups. But these were Kig-Yar, their rank in the covenant hierarchy was very close to that of Unggoy, so there was no way he was just going to let them shove him around like that. Jutfip had noticed and came up to his side, ready for conflict. "I'm not going to just let you toss me around like that!" Zimzam marched towards the Jackal who had his back turned towards him. "Hey! I'm talking to you, Scrub Grub!" With that said, Zimzam shoved the Jackal, right off of his feet, and into the other three Jackals.

The Jackal seemed to be taken by surprise by the Grunts retaliation and replied with a metallic sounding " WHOURSHK!" Both Grunts stood there, trying to understand what the Jackal just said. "I think that may have been an insult." Jutfip whispered to Zimzam. "Well I'm not taking it! Not this time!" Zimzam responded.

Zimzam had been soaking up harassment from Elites all day. Harassment from these mangy birdbrains was something Zimzam was not going to tolerate.

Zimzam raised his arms so that the barbs on them were covering his exposed flanks and were ready to respond to an offense.

The jackals clearly saw Zimzam's threat display and hissed at him while baring their razor sharp teeth. The Kig-Yar pack started forming a circle around the two, like wild animals circling their prey.

The tension where they were was so thick it could be cut with a knife. If Zimzam had sweat glands they'd be working overtime.

What kind of mistake have I gotten myself into. This is four against two, they're going to rip us to shreds.

Neither side was willing to make the first move. Zimzam and Jutfip were too worried about being overwhelmed by the the pack-like jackals and the jackals were reluctant to pounce on the pin cushion Esc Unggoy.

Both sides knew the stakes. If either one of them died, there would be no repercussions toward the assailants. The only people who would know about it would be cleanup crew.

One of the jackals looked like he was ready to lunge for Zimzam, it's mouth was gawked wide open and its talons were spread out and open so that they would be well suited for sinking into his Grunty flesh.

It was no better on Jutfip's side. He was a smaller than average Grunt in height and sheer size. The jackals seemed to view him as an easy picking as well.

Two blood thirsty Jackals eyed Jutfip in particular with their pupiless eyes. Both started closing the distance between them while snarling viciously. The formation of the rotating combat circle still remained

Jutfip looked even more nervous than Zimzam. Zimzam wanted to help but he couldn't. If either of them made a sudden movement it could cause the jackals to spring.

Him and Jutfip were now at the mercy of the Jackal pack.

Zimzam noticed something. None of the Jackals were higher than the rank of minor. That would explain why no individual had initiated an attack yet. None of them were leaders.

Desperate to escape the situation, Zimzam slowly reached out for Jutfip's arm and grabbed it.

"What are you doing?" Jutfip loudly whispered, but by no means trying to escape his grasp.

"Look around Jutfip. None of the Jackals are majors. I don't think any of them are going to attack."

Slowly, Zimzam shuffled towards an opening in the circle. The jackal they ebbed towards growled but also yielded a little space to the two Unggoy by widening the circle.

"RAAIESSHH!" One of the Jackals screeched at the two Grunts and charged at them. Zimzam didn't have time to get away before the, weight of a Kig-Yar fell on top of him.

Zimzam repositioned his arms as quickly as possible to cover his head as jackal claws raked across them. The pain was noteworthy but the armor on his arms protected him from any major damage.

Ironically, in this state of peril, Zimzam found time for reflection. It was almost surreal this whole event. He really didn't know what had gotten over him. Often he was the victim of harassment but rarely was he ever responsible for provoking or escalating it.

Man, all the times Yuto would step in to stop things from happening, this would be the absolute best time for that to happen.

But that wasn't going to happen. This Jackal would eventually break through his defenses and most likely kill him. The other Jackals would also do away with Jutfip in time. And it was all his fault.

"Hey! Hey! Knock it off!" It was an authoritative, yet very squeaky voice. Whoever it was, it clearly was working because the Jackals stiffened and halted their offense.

Zimzam took the respite opportunity to glance at who called them off. A Grunt ultra was quickly waddling in our direction with great haste.

"I swear, I can't let you four out of my sights for so much as a minute without you trying to kill someone!" The jaded Unggoy scolded the four Jackals. He didn't have so much as a hint of fear in his tone.

"RUOOASHH CCHHK!" The Jackal on top of Zimzam squawked in protest at what was most likely his leader. "I don't want to hear it Resh. Now get off of that Unggoy."

Zimzam was amazed by the pure confidence of this high ranking Grunt. Other than his armor, there was no physical difference between him and Zimzam.

Before the Jackal on his back could protest any further, he was abruptly hauled off by the Grunt Ultra who currently had a tight grip on a handful of Kig-Yar head feathers.

The Minor Jackal whimpered at the sudden pain but did not attempt to defend himself. Instead he submitted and awkwardly shuffled in the direction his Head Feathers were being yanked.

"Alright, now come on. Our dropship is departing and it's going to leave without us if we don't hurry. With that said, the Grunt superior gave one final tug in the dropships direction on the Jackals feathers, which received a feeble "Reeaauuhhhe..." from the Jackal. The other three yielded and followed closely behind, leaving Him and Jutfip alone and in shock of what just happened.

Jutfip reached out to help Zimzam back up from the floor. "You just had a brush with the great journey!" Zimzam heaved himself back onto his feet. His arm was very sore and his back was covered in cuts.

"Huff, don't let me do that again." Zimzam mumbled.

Zimzam looked back at the group being lead by the Grunt Ultra one last time before they disappeared inside the dropship.

"That Unggoy completely controlled those jackals, without them even trying to kill him." Zimzam said.

"Well," Jutfip began, "He is an Ultra. That's just, what they do." Zimzam clearly wasn't satisfied with that conclusion. "But you saw him right? He was no bigger than you were." Zimzam squeaked.

As a minor Grunt, the idea of possessing power was alien to him. never in his entire life had he held authority over anyone. authority was something zimzam wanted to experience very badly. even if it was only for a little bit.

One by one, the phantoms and spirit dropships disembarked from the hanger, phasing through the vacuum shield into the space outside. Then, Ardent Prayer's engines rumbled to life. The hum was similar to that of the Long Night of Solace but was a slightly higher pitch and didn't quite blend into the background like Long Night of Solace's did.

With a loud VVRRRUUUUMMMM, Ardent Prayer slowly thrusted itself out of the Hanger

Zimzam and Jutfip watched the Jackal and Grunt ultra's dropship drift off into space and turn into a glowing speck among all of the stars.

Jutfip let out a metallic "huff" sound, a typical noise Unggoy make to express disdain or frustration. "There are way too many Kig-yar on board Long Night of Solace."

"Yeah, it doesn't help that they have those new ones who are even meaner than the normal ones." Jutfip said. Zimzam shuddered. "Ugh, definitely." Ever since Long Night of Solace inherited control of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence and started taking on larger operations, these new Kig-Yar started showing up on the ship. they were even worse than the other Kig-Yar. Even though they weren't as high a rank as Sangheili, based on how they act, you'd think that they right behind the Hierarchs in the covenant status.

If those were the new Jackals that were engaging him and Jutfip just now, then they both would without a doubt be dead right now.

YUTO'S POV

Yuto watched every single ship come to life inside the hanger. Every ship, from Banshees, to Battle Cruisers, each hummed a grand orchestra that vibrated through Yuto's entire body.

Upon Ardent Prayer's departure, most of the other ships followed suite behind it. as each ship bypassed the fluid-like barrier that separated the Hanger from the vacuum of outer space, they all took up a formation around the central Battle Cruiser. Guns at the front, dropships at the back: standard procedure for ship escorts.

Each ship moved and flowed in it's own way, moving so that each ship performed it's own function within the disembarking fleet. Ardent Prayer rumbled in a linear direction, moving in the most efficient manor possible. Banshees and seraph fighters scrambled around their general area like drones, patrolling in random patterns. Spirits and Phantoms were the bodyguards of the Ardent Prayer. Moved in slow turns and twists, traveling at strategic points around the Ardent Prayer.

As the many ships now exiting Hanger 14 traveled further and further away, he saw them join up with other ships that left other hangers. Yuto couldn't believe how many ships were leaving all at once. Normally, the ships in Hanger 14 alone would be enough for a full invasion force. But it seemed that almost every ship Long Night of Solace could muster was slowly closing in on the distant planet that was no more than a speck from here. there must have been hundreds of them taking part in the invasion.

Yuto watched the ships fly away until the glow from their thrusters was all that was still visible. The dark purple color of the ship hulls blended perfectly with empty space. Yuto was sure that this would be successful. No planet could withstand this much firepower.

He then realized that he was now standing alone in a very quiet hanger having completed his *duty* for the war effort. Yuto exhaled, listening to the soft sound travel throughout the large room with ease. He wished that there was something else he could do to help. This didn't mean he disliked his duty, no, he just wished he could help in another way. Sangheili are naturally honorable, especially in combat. Having to work everyday maintenance onboard a ship full of renown warriors was very degrading.

Yuto thought about the Field Marshall Yuto saw earlier. A Sangheili of that rank must recall countless memories of the most glorious battles. Yuto wanted that. But how could he amount to something that great?

Yuto parted his mandibles, forming a frown. He was stuck in a rut. He wanted to be a legendary warrior, but his higher ups had forced him into regularly operating inside this ship. Yuto would never get passed the rank of minor as long as he was stuck in this cycle.

Alar Teferee had it much easier than Yuto did. Before joining the Long Night of Solace, Alar spent a couple cycles on board a light Battlecruiser. While on board, he spent plenty of time in direct contact with the shipmaster, due to the smaller size. That extra communication was most likely the reason Alar got better job diversity.

And the rank of major.

While Alar may have gotten that privilege, Yuto did not. Long Night of Solace was a Supercarrier. Yuto had been here since he graduated to warrior, and in all that time, literally not once had Yuto actually seen the Supreme Commander. Sure he had seen the blurry image of him on holo-projectors, but never had it been face to face. It riled him to know that he was being held back by this flawed system.

Yuto recalled his Grunts, oblivious to the damage present on the back of one of them. With their job done and a long day finished, The lance made its way back to their sleeping quarters. They would all sleep, oblivious to everything going on at the planet nearest to them, and unaware of the approaching hell awaiting everyone on board the Long Night of Solace.


	3. Chapter 3

ALAR POV

The door to the bridge opened with a light "sshhwwuufff". The doors to the Supercarrier's bridge were huge. A wraith could have easily fit through it and would still have enough room for a banshee to fly through above it. Alar felt incredibly small whenever he entered this massive room, both physically and mentally.

Alar made his way to his destination as quietly and quickly as possible. A zealot looked in his direction for a moment. Alar didn't look back but he was very uncomfortable knowing he was being watched. All of the highest ranking Elites from every branch of the Covenant, naval or special operations, would rally in this room. And Alar was heading up the flight of stairs to the one Elite that every one of these officers would have to report to.

The levitating staircase must have been two stories tall. It was located in the center of the bridge. On each side of the bridge were long strips of computers utilized for communications, vital ship controls, and navigation. Unlike most Covenant bridges, the bridge of a Covenant Supercarrier had itself positioned at the front of the ship, whereas most ships would have their bridge placed well within the heart of the ship. Because of this, the supercarrier's bridge had a massive observation window at the front.

The observation window provided the largest unobstructed view on the whole ship. Alar would have loved to spend time here at his leisure, But he had a job to do. Whenever the Field Marshall was in battle he would be the one who had to inform the Supreme Commander of all events that take place on the ground.

Nearing the top of the stairs, a large throne came into his vision. He already knew exactly who was sitting in that chair. Upon the chair, sat a large maroon armored Elite. The Elite presently had his head rested on his left hand while facing the opposite direction of Alar, watching the observation window. At the top, Alar announced himself to the Supreme Commander beholding him.

"Commander, I have come with news." The Supreme Commander remained silent. Alar paused but didn't expect any response. "Our cloaking spires are all in place. They will be ready for Long Night of Solace's arrival within four cycles."

The Elite major proceeded with the rest of his report. While he was still new to it, it was very routine and wasn't difficult to do right; However consequences to "unsatisfactory performance" were definitely something to avoid. His entire report seemed to be going smoothly. His report was to to relay all information that came in from all of the high ranking officers to Rho 'Barutamee, the Supreme Commander. He was nearly finished with his report, he just needed to give one last update regarding a small scouting party stationed outside the cloaking spires.

"The scouting party Dawns Light's blip was detected two clicks south of the cloaking spire." That should have been it. he should have been able to pardon himself there and make his leave away from this painfully silent area.

Instead, that wasn't what happened. Instead this terrifyingly silent elite stood from his throne and turned to look at Alar, directly at Alar. "where was dawns light's position?"

Barutamee was a very intimidating Elite. His voice was deep and his stature was just so- big! He was about the same size as Yuto actually, but Yuto never felt that big or intimidating. He was kind of clumsy to be honest and knowing Yuto for his entire life had made him ignorant of anything possibly threatening about him. Barutamee brought no warm feelings to Alar; only cold feelings of dread and fear. Barutamee's armor was a pristine bronze-gold. Every dent and scratch in his armor looked like it cost the life of every individual that caused them. his cape draped down from his shoulders further enhancing his presence.

"Answer the question, Major." Alar's hearts skipped a beat. He had left his commanding officer without an answer for over half minute. "Ah-apologies commander. Dawns Lights signal was last detected two clicks south-". "THAT IS WRONG!" Barutamee boomed. Alar jumped in response to this. What tiny insignificant noises existed in the room fell silent. It felt like every pair of eyes were on him.

"Zhol Camaree was in that scouting party." Rho 'Barutamee softly spoke while turning away from Alar and walking towards the edge of the circular levitating platform. "His party was supposed to be ten clicks out by now." Alar didn't dare respond to Barutamee. Unlike the ship he used to be stationed on, he was _much_ more expendable here. "I have known Camaree since we were young. He would not have failed me unless something had happened. I want to hear Zhol Camaree report on the status of their mission immediately." "Yes commander." Alar replied affirmatively.

Trying to achieve a clear connection to the ground teams coms was hard enough. The covenant only used top of the line forerunner based cloaking equipment; consequently, it was incredibly difficult to get signals in and out of it. That was why ground teams that were close to cloaking spires stayed in the dark unless absolutely necessary. Luckily, Dawns Light was just far enough out of the spires radius so that he could get a signal. so that this meant it would be easier for him to make contact, however this also meant that he would be able to contact their scouting party on his holo pad. All while standing right next to the supreme commander of the fleet of valiant prudence.

Getting the connection was dreadful; learning the results was even worse. Alar looked up from his holo-pad. Barutamee was staring out the observation window at the planet Reach with his arms crossed. He was impatiently waiting to hear the status of Dawns Light. Could he possibly have sentiment for his old friend? If so, than this new would be even harder for him to recall.

"Commander... all life signals of Dawns Light are flat." The Supreme Commander remained silent. Alar was unsure if he had heard him. "That- that means they're dea-" " I know what it means, major! do not undermine me!" Barutamee interrupted whipping around and shooting daggers directly at Alar. He was angry; that terrified Alar. He'd seen Yuto angry, He'd seen Hunters angry, he'd seen other Zealots angry. none of those people compared to the the fiery glow from the eyes of the powerful Supreme commander that had just received the news that his longtime friend had just died. Why did Alar have to do this job. Why couldn't somebody less expendable be doing this instead. Alar didn't know how well composed the Supreme Commander was or could be, but he had a good feeling that he was looking death in the eyes right now.

Alar had to say something to possibly calm his fiery gaze. "I-I'm sorry about your friend, Commander, i'm sure he died in glorious combat.

That didn't work. his eyes still burned intensely and the railing he was resting his arm on now seemed to be creaking under the newly applied force.

"Clearly you must not understand the severity of this situation, major." Barutamee finally responded. Did Alar miss something? He was expecting grief, and most likely rage induced anger, but surely a Zealot such as himself could understand that any singular loss of life wouldn't result in a major tactical loss. So why was he treating it like so?

"Zhol volunteered himself for this operation. logistics had predicted the possibility that they were here, but I couldn't be certain. Now it seems that Zhol Camaree's death has rectified that theory." Alar was unsure of what he meant by that. what theory was he referring too? And why did it cost the life of one of his men?

"Commander, I'm not sure-" Barutamee interrupted once again, "The Demons are on this planet. It is as I dreaded."

Alar froze. He had only heard stories of the Demons. All of the time he had spent growing up on sanghelios, he had heard stories of glorious victories from elites against the humans. But every time a story would be introduced that involved an encounter with a single Demon, the story would typically be less a tale of glory and more a eulogy honoring the dead. Demons are the most fearsome warriors humanity had ever engineered. More robotic than alive, the small legion of Demons That have existed have caused more casualties than any other threat to the covenant.

And apparently they were on the planet they were now invading. Alar didn't want to believe it.

"How can you be sure? perhaps it was simply a human strike team?" Alar answered.

The Supreme Commander replied again, seeming more willing to respond, most likely because Alar was finally on the right track. "Zhol was a very skilled fighter, we knew that he was more than capable of handling human legions without assistance of his party. And he was specifically instructed to follow orders of making as little human contact as possible."

Barutamee continued pacing along his observation platform. "Camaree couldn't have found humans." Barutamee stopped pacing.

"They would have had to have found him."

Alar didn't know what to say or do. His job was to transfer information to the Supreme Commander. He wasn't prepared to deal with things like this. He wanted to excuse himself from the bridge but he saw no way to do so without being excused.

He looked over at Rho 'Barutamee, who seemed to be in deep thought and was ignoring his presence at the moment.

Barutamee spoke. "You are dismissed, Major."

"Thank you, Commander." Alar quickly obliged and made his leave.

On the way down the staircase, Alar passed a Zealot making his way up the staircase. Alar didn't stop to listen to the conversation the zealot but he could faintly hear their conversation.

"The Demons are on the planet. Their presence could jeopardize our entire expedient." The familiar deep voice of Barutamee.

"Our ground forces are not prepared for such human resistance. We need to request help from the Fleet Of Retribution." The Zealot spoke.

"NO! No matter what, Vadamee cannot know of-" The Supreme Commander's voice was cut off by the closing of the doors behind Alar. He would have wanted to stay and listen to what seemed to be very intriguing information but his legs continued to move him as far from the bridge as possible.

Alar knew that he bared no authority when it came to making battle decisions. Regardless however, he was fully aware that from this point on, the expedition of Long Night Of Solace was about to get a whole lot more hectic.

 **This chapter should conclude the dialogue heavy chapters. I think, (I may have already said that.) I'm going to try to get the next chapter out a little sooner than this one. This chapter is shorter than my first two because i decided to break it up into two chapters, meaning the next chapter is already partially done. Thanks for the patience!**


	4. Chapter 4

YUTO POV

"Wait, are you speaking to me?" Yuto spoke, clearly surprised by what he had just heard. The Elite ultra looked up from his holo-pad, clearly not interested in repeating himself, "You and your lance are to report to Valiant Conquest 87:53 units from now." The white armored Sangheili then went back to tapping away at his holo-pad.

Reporting to new Starships only meant one thing. He was going into front-lines. Yuto stood there eyes to the floor. He never noticed the Ultra walking away, walking over to the next Sangheili in the Grunt feeding room to brief them.

Yuto didn't understand the feelings he was experiencing right now. It wasn't that he didn't want to go. All his life he wanted to be at the front-lines of the biggest battles in Covenant history.

So why was he so nervous right now?

The next serious of events was more of a blur. He and his lance boarded valiant conquest 5 units early, took a seat close to the the ships grav beam, and the ship soon hummed its way outside of the hanger it was inside of. The ship closed in on the planet fast, accelerating faster than Long Night of Solace could have due to its lower mass. The ship was eventually flushed over with a white wave of energy visible from one of the many large windows in the ships, the cloak over Valiant Conquest was being transitioned from the cloaks onboard the Long Night of Solace to the cloaking spire on the planet.

This systems sun was on the other side of the planet, meaning this part of the planet Valiant Conquest was entering was experiencing nighttime. Yuto was shocked by how much light was present on the planets land surface. little dots of light encompassed virtually all of the land on the human world. This was a massively populated planet, far more than any other planet he had ever seen. This would make it a very difficult planet to conquer.

Valiant Conquest entered atmosphere quickly, and at a very steep angle. The gravity stabilizers on the ship prevented the ship's members from from tumbling to the front. Yuto felt like he was standing right side up at the moment, however the outside of the ship showed a wide spanning ocean rotated ninety degrees.

Yuto Stefumee looked at his Grunts. They were all wobbling queasily. Most of them hadn't taken part in a fast planetary entrance like this. The ship slowly leveled out and continued forward on a straight path.

The Ship sped across a limitless ocean at a remarkable pace. The faint light coming from the land slowly transitioned into a black shade similar to that of the night sky as they moved out of the more heavily populated human coastline into a more rural part of the planet. Human radars would be unable to detect any operations that the covenant performed.

The ship tilted ever so slightly as it angled to towards the shoreline. The land that once appeared completely black began to gain more face value. Yuto could now see the silver shine of moonlight on the rocks on the cliffside. Another feature that came to eye was the very faint pink light that was very faint and wouldn't have been detectable from space. The cloaking towers were now becoming very prominent. Even more things came to be. The glow of a Wraith's mortar, the neon green of a Hunter pair's fuel rod cannon, and the pinks and blues of jackal shields were now visible. The ship was now above ground and decelerating fast. Shimmering armor of Sangheili and Unggoy could be seen as they marched around doing their individual tasks

As the ship slowed to a halt, around Yuto's group began to stand and walk around, congregating with their assumed squad mates. Yuto followed suit and waved in order to signal all of his Grunts to follow him.

ZIMZAM POV

It was a cluttered mess. Everyone was waiting around one gravity beam waiting for their turn to descend to the ground below. Their really wasn't any order in the process. Just one Grunt Major telling each group of several or so troops to "Go ahead" every fifteen seconds or so. Zimzam didn't like this one bit. He was unsure how much His leader may know about why they were here, but Zimzam sure didn't. Sure, it felt easier to just assume they were there to shoot all the bad guys, but Zimzam wanted to think a little deeper than that.

Zimzam had watched Dozens of small armies leave his hanger alone that would have been more than enough to invade an entire planet. Yet here he was, a soldier who almost never experienced frontline combat being sent to what he assumed was the front lines; even that was something he wasn't completely sure of.

"Next!" The Grunt Major squawked. Zimzam's group was up next. Yuto stepped in front of us so that he could make his way down the grav lift first. Elites always had to be first to do everything. Zimzam watched Yuto walk forwards over the large circular opening in the ship over a hundred feet in the air and then descended suddenly as if he were standing on a platform. The stationed Unggoy watched him descend for a few seconds before calmly motioning one the Unggoy in our party that it was his turn. Some of his fellow Grunts squealed in surprise at the drop on the grav lift. Most of them, Zimzam included, Had never used the Grav lift before. Larger ships like the Long Night Of Solace had dropship that transported troops rather than using Grav lifts. Gravity lifts were not efficient enough, the entire departing party would have to wait to exit usually only one Grav lift at a time. Dropships were much better, and not to mention safer, at doing that job than gra-

"Next!" The bored Grunt hollered at Zimzam who discovered that He was the last member of his Lance still onboard the ship. Zimzam had drifted off again.

"Sorry, I'll go now!"

Zimzam walked up to the opening and stopped. Zimzam forgot to pay attention to how he was supposed to use the grav lift.

"Sooooo, do I just step onto it or..."

The Grunt looked up at him, critically.

"You just... Walk on it."

A Jackel gurgled in irritation behind him, Zimzam took no more time in looking at the intimidating opening in the ship, and took several steps forward; However, Zimzam found himself regretting it. A slight bump protruded out of the mostly flat floor that surrounded the circumference of the grav lift opening and Zimzam completely omitted its presence.

"EEEAAAUGH!" Zimzam clumsily tripped over the small bump and tumbled face first down the grav lift. Zimzam could hear the Jackel that was standing behind him snort in laughter on his way down.

Zimzam quickly felt a rush of energy pour over his body. The sensation felt like he had just jumped into a pool of water, except for the whole being wet and not being able to breath part.

No longer feeling as if he was falling, Zimzam opened his eyes. Zimzam could see the entire covenant camp from this height. There were dim pink, blue, and purple lights scattered all over the place. the view from where he was now was much better than what it was compared to the view from the plasma soaked windows of the ship. Zimzam could also see the white foam of waves that had crashed against the steep cliff of the coastline. At this point in time it was the second most prominent noise Zimzam was hearing. The loudest being the bassy hum of the ship he was floating down from. The third, and fastest increasing noise Zimzam heard was the sound of chatter from his Lance who was now at the very bottom. Zimzam tried to flip his body around so that he wasn't floating down head first but he couldn't; his body was stuck in the position he was in and he was unable to right himself.

Zimzam could now see his Lance leader, who was doing a head count, counting all but one Unggoy who had yet to touch down. His leader would then look up just in time to see Zimzam slowly float completely upside down and plop down on the ground face first right in front of him.

Zimzam didn't want to look the Sangheili before him in the eyes; he was too embarrassed. His gaze burned his back like a scorching sun, Zimzam could feel it.

after time had elapsed, Zimzam finally worked up the courage to look at the Elite before him only to find that he had already turned around and was walking to whatever our next destination was. The Grunts around him stood still for a few moments before simultaneously turning around and scurrying off in the direction of their leader.

Feeling like there were no more eyes on him, Zimzam got back to his feet and followed after his Lance. Before running off, he got one last burning feeling of someone with his eyes on him, or at least glowing green lights. A Hunter pair was watching him while standing still as statues. He was unsure if they were even interested in him or if they just happened to be looking in his general direction at the time. Zimzam locked eyes for a few seconds before turning and joining up with his Lance.

YUTO POV

Yuto headed for one of the larger metal huts set up at the end of the long grassy straight path he had taken from the grav lift drop off. The Ultra Elite told him that he would have a briefing at the largest tent in the camp immediately after disembarking from Valiant Conquest. Yuto looked up in time to see Valiant conquest, who had previously stood completely still above ground, slowly accelerate forward, make a smooth turn around a small, thin, rocky, mountain and then fly off over the ocean once again. The tent was simple Sangheili design. The tent was rounded on the top and had no cover walls allowing outside air inside. It was a feature that was reminiscent of ancient Sangheili architecture, back before air ventilation was a thing.

Yuto had to stop to wait for the rest of his Grunts to join up.

Their was a lot of commotion in the camp. nothing too hectic but just a lot of things going on all at once. Lots of spirit dropships would descend and take off. many crates and weapons were being moved around constantly. it was a lot for Yuto to take in all at once. Long Night of Solace's massive size meant that lots of commotion would be very uncommon with the exception of the last few cycles. The last of Yuto's Grunts entered the hut behind him.

If Yuto had stayed outside the command tent just a few seconds longer, he would have seen a particularly battered dropship clumsily descend to an open patch of grass close to the Command Hut.

Lots of Elites were gathered around a zealot, who stood over a holographic map. The Zealot explained the current status of our insurgence. Three parties had been sent deep into enemy lines to gather intel. one party lost signal and the other reported back with heavy casualties.

"Dawns light is offline. While their official status is unknown, we can suspect that they await the Holy Journey now."

Yuto bowed his head his head in resect. He was sure their battle was hard fought and honorable.

"The greatest weapon of the humans have been confirmed by the second insurgence party. Several Zealots encountered and evaded a squad of the Demon filth."

Demons on the very same planet Yuto was standing on right now? His feet turned cold. All his life, he had wanted to experience the fiery rush of battle, but he didn't feel this rush of anticipation anymore. It felt more like a cold hard blunt to his chest. He didn't feel like the battle he had always dreamed of would go anything like the way he hoped it would be.

From that, hearing the Zealot instruct him and the rest of the elites in the tent that they would be deployed for the initial invasion of a heavily fortified human base didn't sound as good knowing that the likelihood of seeing a demon was high. The coordinates they were supposed to go to was much even than the scout party looked around the room at the other Elites, it wasn't very hard as he stood a good few inches above most of them. All of them wore the same jaded expression. He wondered if any of them were as nervous as he was despite the hardened exterior. He wondered if his expression appeared jaded to everyone else as well.

Exiting the tent, Yuto could see the misty yellow of a soon to be rising sun over the water. the fog drifting over the vast ocean. A gentle breeze was pulling the clouds along the sky. In a different time and setting it could be almost peaceful.

Yuto almost didn't notice the battered Sangheili field marshall walking directly past him if not for the familiar spine tingling that crept up on him.

The field marshall did not look as pristine as he did onboard the Long Night of Solace. His once smooth maroon armor was decorated with human projectiles of all shapes and sizes. His left mandibles also had a nasty bruise on them. Whatever he got into a fight with had a nasty punch.

Despite his noticeable injuries, that did not stop his profound stature. He still walked forward, past Yuto with the same gait he had before. The one where he would have shoved Yuto aside if he hadn't moved aside just in time. Yuto stood taller than the renown Zealot yet he still inadequate near him. He noticed that the Zealot was alone now. None of his previous Zealot companions were with him anymore.

Could it have been the Demons? He didn't know of any other human facet that could have done this to a squad of the greatest weapon in the covenant. How could we take over this world without a means to wipe out the Demons. In order to win this war, all demons must die.


End file.
